60 THE ROSE GARDENS OF HERTFORDSHIRE. 



Rockets, &c., being freely interspersed, the effect is grand 

 in the extreme. At the back of this border is a wire 

 fence covered with free-growing creeping Roses and 

 honeysuckles. Behind this is a walk and a belt of trees 

 for shelter, among which the Scotch Laburnum and Yellow 

 Broom are plentifully introduced. At one end of this 

 border is a fine spreading Sycamore, whose agreeable 

 shade we gladly availed ourselves of for a few moments, 

 and then pursued a shady path to examine a row of the 

 Crimson Perpetual Roses nearly fifty yards long. The 

 plants were large and in full bloom, and are said to yield 

 a constant supply of flowers for bouquets from June to 

 Christmas. Thence we returned to inspect a large bed of 

 Roses, which contains the principal collection. They were 

 for the most part standards. The most striking for size 

 and beauty were French: Latour d'Auvergne, William 

 Tell, and Madame Damoureau. Hybrid Chinese, &c. : 

 Magna rosea, Stadtholder, Madame Plantier, Devigne, 

 Coupe d'Hebe, and Beauty of Billiard. Hybrid Perpetual: 

 Dr Marx and Clementine Seringe. Bourbon : Bouquet de 

 Flore. Damask Perpetual: La Volumineuse. Turning 

 thence, we passed through an arcade of Roses, formed of 

 the Boursault and various kinds of Hybrid Chinese. 

 Ascending a gentle slope by the side of the house, we met 

 with a bed of the Gloire des Rosomanes, 



" Warm rival of the flame that dyes 

 The heavens," 



and another of the White China, which we were informed 

 had withstood the frosts of ten winters without any 

 protection. Next in order was a bed of Bourbon, Madame 

 Desprez ; three beds of Noisette, Fellenberg ; and one of 

 the Beauty of Hertfordshire, a seedling raised here by Mr 

 Mylne, possessing very fine foliage and rose-coloured 

 flowers, resembling the Bourbon latifolia. These beds 

 were all upon the lawn, where the natural soil (chalk) rises 

 to within two inches of the surface ; the soil has conse- 



